CASTES IN INDIA - THEIR MECHANISM, GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT

CASTES IN INDIA

THEIR MECHANISM, GENESIS AND DEVELOPMENT

This paper was read by Dr. B.R. AMBEDKAR before
the Anthropology Seminar of Dr. A. A. Goidenweiser,
Columbia University, New York (America)
on 9th May 1916

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2

I need hardly remind you of the complexity of the
Subject | intend to handle. Subtler minds and abler pens
than mine have been brought to the task of unravelling the
mystcries of Castes ; but unfortunately it still remains in
the domain of the ‘‘unexplained,’’ not to say of the ‘“‘un-
understood,’ I am quite alive to the complex intricacies of
a hoary institution like Caste, but I am not so pessimistic
as lo relegate it to the region of the unknowable, for I
belicve 1t can be known. The caste problem is a vast one,
both theoretically and practically. Practically, it is an
institution that portends tremendous consequences. It isa
local problem, but o1e capable of mucn wider mischief, for
‘“‘as long as caste in India does exist, Hindus will hardly
intermarry or have any social intercourse with outsiders ;
and if Hindus world migrate to other regions on carth, Indian
caste Would become a world problem. Theoretically, it has
defied a great many scholars who have taken upon them-
selves, as a Jabour of love, to dig into its origion. Such being
the case, | cannot treat the problem in its entirety. Time,
space ard acumen, I am afraid, would all fail me, if I
attempt to do otherwise than jimit myself to phase of
it, namely the genesis, mechanism and spread of the caste
system. | will strictly observe this rule, and will dweil on
extraneous matters only when it 1s necessary to clarify or
support 4 point in my thesis.

To proceed with the subject. According to well-known
Ethnologists, the population of India is a mixture of Aryans,
Dravidians, Mongolians and Scythians. All these stocks of
peopie came into India from various directions and with
varicus cultures, centuries ago, when they were 1n a tribal

3

state. They all in turn elbowed their entry into the country
by fighting with their predecessors, and after a stomachful
of it settled down as peaceful ncighbours. Through constant
contact and mutual intercourse they evolved a common
culiure that superseded their distinctive cultures. I: may
be granted that there has not been a thorough amalgamation
of the various stocks that make up the people of India,
and to a traveller from within the boundaries of India
the East presents a marked contrast in physiquz and even
in colour to the West, as does the South to the North.
But amalgamation can never be the sole criterion of
homogeneity as predicated of any people. Ethnically all
peoples arc heterogeneous. It is the unity of culture that
is the basis of homogeneity. Taking this for granted, I
venture to say that there is no country that can rival the
Indian Peninsula with respect to the unity of its culture.
It has not only a geographic unity, but it has over and
above all a deeper and a much more fundamental unity-the
indubitable cultural unity that covers the land from end to
end. But it is because of this homogeneity that Caste
becomes a problem so difficult to be explained. If the Hindu
Society were a mere federation of mutually exclusive units
the matter would be simple enough. But Caste is a
parcelling of an already homogeneous unit, and the cxpiana-
tion of the genesis of Caste is the explanation of this proces.
of parcelling.

Before launching into our field of enyuiry, it is better
to advise ourselves regarding the nature of a caste. [ will
therefore draw upon a few of the best students of caste for
their definition of it :—

1. Mr. Senart, a French authority, defiass a caste a3

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‘‘a close corporation, in theory at any rate
rigorously hereditary : equipped with a certain
traditional and independent organisation, including
a chief and a council, meeting on occasion in
assemblies of more or less plenary authority and
joining together at certain festivals : bound together
by common _ occupations, which relate more
particularly to marriage and to food and to
questions of ceremonial pollution, and ruling its
members by the exercise of jurisdiction, the extent
of which varies, but which succeds in making the
authority of the community more felt by the
sanction of certain penalties and, above ail, by final
irrevocable exclusion from the group.’’

2. Mr. Nesfield defines a caste as ‘‘a class of the
community which disowns any connection with
any Other class and can neither intermarry nor
eat nor drink with any but persons of their own
community.”

3. According to Sir. H. Risley, ‘‘a caste may be
defined as a collection of families or groups of
families bearing a common name which usually
denotes or is associated with specific occupation,
claiming common descent from a mythical
ancestor, human or divine, professing to follow
the same professional, callings and are regarded
by those who are competent to give an opinion
as forming a single homogeneous community.”

4. Dr. Ketkar defines caste as ‘‘a social group having
two characteristics : (¢) membership is confined tu

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those who are born of members and includes all
persons so. born (+) the members are forbidden

by an inexorable social law to marry outside the
group.”

To review these definitions is of great importance for
our purpose. Jt will be noticed that taken individually the
definitions of three of the writers include too much or too
little: none is complete or correct bv itself and all have
missed the central point inthe mechanism of the Caste
system. Their mistake lies in trying to define caste as an
isolated unit by itself, and not asa group within, and with
definite relations to, the system of caste asa Whole. Yet
collectively all of them are complementary to one another,
each one emphasising what has been obscured in the
other. By way of criticism, therefore, I will take only
those points common to all Castes in each of the above
definitions which are rezarded as peculiarities of Caste and
evaluate them as such.

To start with Mr. Senart. He draws attention to tne
“Idea of pollution’? as a characteristic of Caste. With regard
to this point it may be safely said that it is by no means
a peculiarity of Caste as suth. It usually originates in
priestly ceremonialism and is a particular case of the general
belief in purity. Consequently its necessary connection
with Caste may b2 completely denied without damaging
the working of Caste. The ‘‘idea of pollution’ has been
attached to the institution of Caste, only because the Caste
that enjoys the highest rank isthe priestly Caste : While
we know that priest and purity are old assoeiates. We may
therefore conclude that the ‘‘idea of pollution’ is a

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characteristic of Caste only in so far as Caste has a religious
flavour. Mr. Nesfield in his way dwells on the absence of
messing with those outside the Caste as one of its charac-
teristics. In spite of the newness of the point we must
say that Mr. Nesfield has mistaken the effect for the cause.
Caste, being a self-enclosed unit naturally limits social
intercourse, including messing etc. to Members within it.
Consequently this absence of messing with outsiders is not
due to positive prohibition, but is a natural result of Caste,
i. e. exclusiveness. No doubt this absence of messing origi-
nally due to exclusiveness, acquired the prohibitory
character of a religious injunction, but it may be regarded as
a later growth. Sir H. Risley, makes no new point deserving
of special attenticn.

We now pass on to the definition of Dr. Ketkar who
has done much for the elucidation of the subject. Not
only is he a native, but he has also brought a critical
acuman and an open mind to bear on his study of Caste.
His definition merits consideration, for he has defined Caste
in its relation toa system of Castes, and has concen-
trated his attention only on those characteristics which
are absolutely necessary for the existence of a Caste which
in a system, rightly excluding all others as being secondary
or derivative in character. With respect to his definition it
must, however, be said that in it there is a slight confusion
of thought, lucid and clear as otherwise it is. He speaks
of Prohibition of Intermarriage and Membership by
Autogeny as the two characteristics of Caste. I submit
that these are but two aspects of one and the same thing,
and not two different things as Dr. Ketker supposes them
to be. If you prohibit inter-marriage the result is that you

~
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limit membership to those born within the group. Thus
the two are the obverse and the reverse sides of the same
edal.

This critical evaluation of the various characteristics of
Caste leave no doubt that prohibition, or rather th: absence
of intermarriage-endogamy, to b2 concise is the only one
that can be called the essence of Caste when rightly
undertsood. But some may deny this’ on_ abstract
anthropological grounds for there exist endogamous grouns
without giving rise to problem of Caste. In a general
way this may be true, as endogamous societies, cuiturally
different, making their abode in localities more or less
removed, and having little todo with each other are a
physical reality. The negroes and th2 waites and the
various tribal groups that go by name of American
Indians in the United States may be cited as more or less
appropriate illustarations in support of this view.
But we must not confuse matters, for in India the situation
is different. As pointed out before, the peoples of India
form a homogeneous whole. The various races of India
occupying definite territories have more or less fused into
one another and do possess cultural unity. which 1s the
only criterion of a homogeneous population. Given this
homogenity as a basis Caste becomes a problem altogether
new in Character and wholly absent in the situation
constituted by the mere propinquity of endogamous, social
or tribal groups. Caste in India means an art.ficial chopping
off the population into fixed and definite units, cach one
prevented from fusing into another througn the cu-tom
of endogamy. Tnus thz conclusion is in evitable that
Endogamy is the only characterzstic that is pe.uliar to

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caste, and if we succeed in showing how endogamy is main-
tained, we shall practically have proved the genesis and also
the mechanism of Caste.

It may not be quite easy for you to anticipate why I
tegard endogamy asa key to the mystery of the Caste
system. Not to strain your imagination too much, I will
proceed to give you my reasons for it.

It may not also be out of place to emphasize at this
moment that no civilized society of to-day presents more
survivals of primitive time than does the Indian society,
its religion is essentially primitiv2 and_ its tribal code,
inspite cf the advance of time and civilization, operates in
all its pristine vigour even to-day. one of these primitive
survivals, to vhich I wish particularly to draw your
attention is the CUSTOM OF EXOGAMY. The prevalence
of exozamy in the pimitive words is a fact too well known
to need any explanation. With the growth of history,
however, exogamy has lost its efficacy, and excepting the
nearest blocd-kins, there is usually no social bar restricting
the ficid of marriage. But regarding the peopies of India
the law of exogamy isa positive iniunction even to-day.
Indian society still savours of the clan system, even
though there are no clans; and this can be easily seen
from the law of matrimony which centres round the
principle of exogamy, for itis not that SAPINDA>S
(blood-kins) cannot marry, but a marriage even between
SAGOTRAS (of the same _ class) is regarded as
sacrilege.

Nothing is therefore more important for you to
remember than the fact that endogamy is foreign to the
people of India. The various GOTRAS of India are and

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have been exogomous, so are the other groups with totemic
organization. It is no exaggeration to say that with the
people of India exogamy is a creed and none dare infringe
it, so much sothat, inspite of the endogamy of the Castes
within them exogamy is strictly observed and that there
are more rigorous penalties for violating exogamy than are
for violating endogamy. You will, thercfore, readily see that
with exogamy the rule there could be no Caste, for exogamy
means fusion. But we have castes ; consequently in the
final analysis creation of castes, so for as India 1s concerned,
means the superposition of endogamy on exogamy. However,
in an originally exogamous population an easy working out
of endogamy (which is equivalent to the creation of Cast2)
isa grave problem, andit is in the consideration of the
means utilized for the preservation of endogamy againot
exogamy that we may hope to find the solution of our
problem.

Thus the Superpcsition of endogamy on exogamy
means the creation of caste. But this is not an easy
affair. Let us take an imaginary group that desires to
make itself into a Casts and analyse what means it will
have to adopt to make it self endogamous. Ifa group
desires to make itself endogamous a formal injunction
against intermarriage with outside groups will be of no
avail, especially if prior to the introduction of endogamy,
exogamy had been the rule in all matrimonial reiations.
Again, there is a tendency in all groups lying in close
contact with one another to assimilate and amalgamate,
and thus consolidate into a homogenous society. If this,
tendency is to be strongly counteracted in the interest of
Caste formation, it absolutely necessary to circumscrib2 a

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le outside which people should not contract marriages.

Nevertheless, this encircling to prevent marriages
n without creates problems from within which are not
y easy of solution. Roughly speaking, in a normal
up the two sexes are more or less evenly distributed,
{ generally speaking there is an equality between those
the same age. The quality is, however, never quite
lized in actual societics. At the same time to the group
t is desirous of making itself into a caste the manitenance
equality between the sexes becomes the ultimate goal,
without it endogamy can no longer subsist. In other
rds, if endogamy is to be preserved conjugal rights from
thin have to be provided for, otherwise members of the
yup will be driven out of the circle to take care of
‘mselves in any way they can. But in order that the
ajugal rights to be provided for from within. it 1s
solutely necessary to maintain a numerical equality
tween the marriageable units of the two sexes within the
yup desirous of making itself into a Caste. It is only
‘ough the maintenance of such an equality that the
cessary endogamy of the group can be kept intact, and a
ry large disparity 1s sure to break it.

The problem of caste, then, ultimately resolves itself
to one of repairing the disparity between the marriage-
je units of the two sexes within it. Left to nature. the
uch needed parity between the units can be realized only
1en a couple dies simultaneously. But this is a rare contin-
ncy. The husband may die before the wife and create a
rplus woman, who must be disposed of, else through inter-
arriage she will violate the endogamy of the group. In like

11

manner the husband may survive his wife and be surplus man,
whom the group, while it may sympathise with him for the
said beravement, has to dispose of, else he will marry out-
side the Caste and will break the endogamy. Thus both the
surplus man and the surplus woman constitute a menace to
he caste if not taken care of, for not finding suitabie partners
nside their prescribed circle (and left to themselves they can-
10t find any, for if the matter be not regulated there can only
Xe Just enough parts to go round) very likely they will trans-
ress the boundary, marry outside and import offspring that
s foreign to the caste.

Let us see what our imaginary group is likely to do with
his SURPLUS MAN AND SURPLUS WOMAN. We will
irst take up the case of the SURPILUS WOMAN. She can
‘e disposed of in two different ways so as to preserve the
ndogamy of the caste.

First : burn her on the funeral pyre of her deceased
usband and get rid of her. This, however, is a rather an
npracticable way of solving the problem of sex disparity.
1 some cases it may Work, in others it may not. Consequen-
y every SURPLUS WOMAN cannot thus be disposed of,
cause it is an easy solution but a hard realization. And

the SURPLUS WOMAN (widow), if not disposed of,
mains in the group: but in her very existence lies a double
nger. She may marry outside the Caste and violate endo-
my, or she may marry within the Caste and through com-
tition encroach upon the chances of marriage that must be
served for the potential brides in the Caste. She is there-
fea menace in anycase, and something must be done to
rif she cannot be burned along with her deceased husband.

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The second remedy is to enforce widowhood on her for the
rest of her life. So far as the objective results are concerned,
burning is a better solution than enforcing widowhood.
Burning the widow eliminates all the three evils that a SUR-
PLUS WOMAN is fraught with. Being dead and gone she
creates no problem of remarriage either inside
or outside the Caste. But compulsory widowhood is supericr
to burning because it is more practicable. Besides being com-
paratively humane it also guards against the morals of re-
marriage as does burning ; but it fails to guard the morals of
the group. No doubt under compulsory widowhood the
woman remains, and just because she is deprived of her being
natural right of being a Jegitimate wife in future, the incentive
to immoral conduct is increased. But this is by no insuper-
able difficulty. She can be degraded to a condition in which
she is no longer a source of allurement.

The problem of SURPLUS MAN (widower) is much
more important and much more difficult than that of the
SURPLUS WOMEN in a group that desires to make itself
into a Caste. From time immemorial man as compared
with woman has had the upper hand. He is a dominant
figure in every group and of the two sexes has greater
prestige. With this traditional superiority of man overt
woman his wishes have always been consulted. Woman,
on the other hand, has been an easy prey to all kinds of
iniquitous injuctions, religious, social! or economic. But
man asa maker of injunctions is most often above them
all. Such being the case, you cannot accord the same kind
of treatment to a surplus man as you can to a surplus
woman in Caste.

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The project of burning him with his deceased wife is
hazardous in two ways: first of all it cannot be done
simple because he is a man. Secondly, if done, a sturdy
soul is lost to the Caste. There remain then only two
solutions which can conveniently dispose of him. I say
conveniently, because he is an asset to the group.

Important as he is to the group, endogamy is still more
important, and the solution must assure both these ends.
Under these circumstances she may be forced or I should say
induced, after the manner of the widow, to remain a widower
for the rest of his life. This solution is not altogether
difficult, for without any compulsion some are so disposed
as to enjov self-imposed celibacy, or even to take a further
step of their own accord and renounce the world and its
joys But, given human nature as it is, this solution can
hardly be expected to be realized. On the other hand as is
very likely to be the case, if the SURPLUS MAN remains
in the group as an active participator in group activities,
he is a danger to thc morals of the group. Looked at from
different point of view celibacy, though easy in cases where
it succeeds, is not so advantageous even then to the
material prospects of the Caste. If he observes genuine
celibacy and renounces the world, he would not be a menace
to the preservation of Caste endogamy or caste morals as he
undoubtediy would be if he remained a_ secular person.
But as an ascetic celibate he is as good as burned, so far
as the material well-being of his Caste is concerned. A
Caste, in order that it may be large enough to afforda
vigorous communal life, must be maintained at acertain
numerical strength. Butto hope for this and to proclaim

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celibacy is the same as trying to cure atrophy by
bleeding.

Imposing celibacy on the surplus man in the group,
therefore, fails both theoretically and practically. It is in the
interest of the Caste to keep him as a grahastha (one who
raises a family), to use a Sanskrit technical term. But the
problem is to provide him with a wife from within the Caste.
At the outset this is not possible, for the ruling ratio ina
caste has to be one man to one woman and none can have
two chances of marriage, for in a Caste thoroughly self-
enclosed there are always just enough marriageable women
to go round for the marriageable men. Under these circums-
tances the surplus man can be provided with a wife only by
recruiting a bride from the ranks of those not yet miarriage-
able in order to tie him down to th: group. This is certainly
the best of the possible solutions in the case of the surplus
man. By this, he js kept within the caste. By this means
numerical depletion through constant outflow is guarded
against, and by this endogamy and morals are preserved.

It will now be seen that the four means by which num-
erical disparity between the two sexes is conveniently main-
tained (1) Burning the widow with her deceased husband ;
(2) Compulsory widowhood—a milder form of burning :
(3) Imposing celibacy on the widower ; (4) Wedding him
to a girl not yet marriageable. Though, as I said above,
burning the widow and imposing celibacy on the widower are
of doubtful service to the group in its endeavour to preserve
its endogamy, all of them operate as Means. But means, as
forces, When liberated or set in motion create an end. What
then is the end that these means create ?

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They create and perpetuate endogamy, while caste and
endogamy, according to our analysis of the various defini-
tions of caste, are one and the same thing. Thus the exist-
ence of these means is identical with caste and caste involves
these means.

This, in my opinion, is the general mechanism of a caste
in a system of castes. Let us now turn from these high
generalities to the castes in Hindu Society and inquire into
their mechanism. I need hardly promise that there are a great
many pitfalls in the path of those who try to unfold the
past, and caste in India to be sure is a very ancient institu-
tion. This is especially true Where there exist no authentic
or written record or where the people, like the Hindus, are
so constituted that to them writing history ts a folly , for the
world is an illusion. But institutions do live, though for a
long time they may remain unrecorded and as often as not
customs and morals are like fossils that their own his-
tory. If this is true, our task will be amply rewarded if we
scrutinize the solution the Hindus arrived at to meet the
problems of the surplus man and surplus woman.

Compiex though it be in its general working the Hindu
Society, even to 2 superficial observer, presents three singu-
lar uxrial customs, namely :

(i) Sati or the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre

of her deceased husband.

(22) Enforced widowhood by which a widow is not allow-

ed to remarry.
(11+) Girl marriage.
In addition, one also notes a great hankering after

16

Sannyasa (renunciation) on the part of the widower, but this-
may in some cases be due purely to psychic disposition.

So far as I know, no scientific explanation of the origin
of these customs is forth-coming even to day. We have
plenty of philosophy to tell us why these customs were hon-
oured, but nothing to tell us the causes o ftheir origin and
existence. Sats has been honoured (Of A.K. Coomaraswamy,
Sati: a Defence of the Eastern Woman in the British Socio-
logical Review, Vol. VI, 1913) because it is a ‘‘proof of the
perfect unity of body and soul’? between husband and wife
and of ‘‘devotion beyond the grave; becauSe it embodied
the ideal of wifehood, which is weil expressed by Uma when
she said ‘‘Devotion to her Lord is woman’s honour, it is her
eternal heaven : and O Maheshvara,” she adds with a most
touching human cry, ‘I desire not paradise itself if thou are
not satisfied with me!’ Why compulsory widowhood is
honoured I know not, nor have] yet met with any one who
sang in praise of it, though there are a great many who ad-
here to it. The eology in honour of girl marriage is reported
by Dr. Ketkar to be as follows : “A really faithful man or
woman ought not to feel affection for a woman or a man
other than the one with whom he or sheis united. Such
purity is compulsory not only after marriage but even be-
fore marriage, for that is the only correct ideal of chastity.
No maiden could be considered pure if she feels love for a
man other than one to whom she might be married. As she
does not known to whom she is going to be married she must
not feel affection for any man at all before marriage. If she
does so, itisasin Soitis better for a girl to know whom
she has to love before any sexual consciousness has been

17

awakened in in her. *Hence girl marriage.

This high flown and ingenious sophistry indicates why
these institutions were honoured, but does not teil us why
they were practised. My own interpretation is that they
were honoured because they were practised. Any one §slight-
ly acquainted with rise of individualism in the 18th century
will appreciate my remark. At all times, it is the movement
that is most important ; and the philosophies grow around it
long afterwards to justify it and give it a moral support.
In like mannerI urge that the very fact that these customs
were so highly eulogized proves that they needed eulogy for
their prevalence. Regarding the question as to why they
arose, { submit that they were needed to create the struc-
ture of caste and the philosophies in honour of them were
intended to popularize them, or to gild the pill, as we might
say, for they must have been so abominable and shocking to
the moral sense of the unsophisticated that they needed a

great deal of sweetening. These customs are essentialy of
the nature of means though they are represented as ideals.

But this should not blind us from understanding the results
that flow from them. One might safely say that idealization
of means Is necessary and in this particular case was _per-
haps motivated to endow them with greater efficacy. Calling
ameans an end does no harm, except that it disguises its
real character ; but it does not deprive it of its real nature.
that of a means You may pass a law that all cats are dogs,
just as you can calla meansan end. But you can no more
change the nature of means thereby than you can turn cats
into dogs ; consequently I am justified in holding that whe-
there regarded as erds or as means, Sati, enforced widowhood
*History of Caste in India, 1900, pp. 32-32.

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and giv! marriage are customs that were primarily intended
to solve the problem of the surplus man and surlus woman
ina caste and to maintain its endogamy. Strict endogamy
could not be preserved without these customs, while caste
without endogamy is a fake.

Having explained the mechanism of the creation and
preservation of Caste in India, the further quesion as to
its genesis naturally arises. The question of origin is always
an annoying question and in the study of Caste it is sadly
neglected ; some have connived at it, while others have dod-
ged it. Some are puzzled as to whether there could be such
a thing as the origin of caste and suggest that ‘“‘if we cannot
control our fondness for the word ‘origin,’ we should better
use the plural form, viz. ‘origins of caste.”” Asfor myself I
do not feel puzzled by the Origin of Caste in India for, as
I have established befcre, endogamy is the only characteris-
tic of Caste and when I say ORIGIN OF CASTEI mean
THE ORIGIN OF THE MECHANISM FOR ENDOGAMY.

The atomistic conception of individuals in a Society so
greatly popularised—I was about to say vulgarized—in poli-
tical orations is the greatest humbug. To say that individuals
make up society is trivial; society is always composed of
classes. It may be an exaggeration to assert the theory of
class-conflict, but the existence of definite classes in a society
isa fact. Their basis may differ. They may be economic or
intellectual or social, but an individual in a society is always
a member of a class. This is a universal fact and early Hindu
society could not have been an exception to this rule, and,
as a matter of fact, we know it was not. If we bear this
generalization in mind, our study of the genesis of caste

19

would be very much facilitated, for we have only to deter-
mine what was the class that first made into caste, for class
and caste, so to say, are next door neighbours, and it only a
span that separates the two. A CASTE IS AN ENCLOSED
CLASS.

The study of the origin of caste must furnish us with an
answer to the question—what is the class that raised this
‘enclosure’ around itself ? The question may seem too inqui-
sitorial, but it is pertinent, and an answer to this will serve
us to elucidate the mystry of the growth and development
of castes all over India. Unfortunately a direct answer to
this question is not within my power. I can answer it only
indirectly. I said just above that the customs in question
were current in the Hindu Society. To be true to facts it is
necessary to qualify the statement, as it connotes universality
of their prevalence. These customs in all their strictness
are obtainable only in one caste, namely the Brahmans, who
occupy the highest place in the social hierarchy of the
Hindu society ; and as their prevalence in Non-Brahman
castes is derivative of their observance is neither strict nor
complete. This important fact can serve as a basis of an
important observation. Ifthe prevalence of these customs
in the non-Brahman Castes is derivative, as can be shown
very easily, when it needs no argument to prove what class
is the father of the institution of caste. Why the Brahman
class should have enclosed itself into a caste is a different
question, which may be left as an employment for another
occassion. But the strict observance of these customs and the
‘social superiority arrogated by the priestly class in all anci-
ent civilizations are sufficient to prove that they were the

20

originators of this ‘‘unnatural institution” founded and
maintained through these unnatural means.

I now come to the third part of my paper regarding the
question of the growth and spread of the caste system all
over India. The question 1 have to answer is : How did the
Institution of caste spread among the rest of the Non-Brah-
man population of the country ? The question of the spread
of the castes all over India has suffered a worse fate than
the question of genesis. And the main cause, as it seems to
me, is that the two questions of spread and of origin are not
separated. This is because of the common belief among scho-
lars that the caste system has either been imposed upon the
docile population of India by a law-giver as a divine dispen-
sation, or that it has grown according to some law of social
growth peculiar to the Indian people.

I first propose to handle the law-giver of India. Every
country has its law-giver, who arises as an incarnation
(avatar) in times of emergency to set right a sinning
humanity and give it the laws of justice and morality.
Manu, the law-giver of India, if he did exist, was certainly
an audacious person. If the story that he gave the law
of caste be created, then Manu must have been a dare-devil
fellow and the humanity that accepted his dispensation
must bea humanity quite different from the one we are
acquainted with. It is unimaginable that the law of caste
was Given. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that Manu
could not have outlived his law, for what is that class
that can submit to be degraded to the status of
brutes by the pen of a man, and suffer him to raise
another class to the pinnacle ? Unless he was a tyrant who

21

held all the population in subjection it cannot
be imagined that he could have been allowed to dispense
his patronage in this grossly unjust manner, as may be
easily seen by a mere glance at his ‘Institutes’. I may
seem hard for Manu, but I am sure my force is not strong
enough to kill his ghost. He lives, like a disernbodicd
spirit and is appealed to, and Iam afraid will yet live
long. One thing I want to impress upon you is that Manu
did not Give the law of Caste and that he could not do so.
Caste existed long before Manu. He was an wpholder of it
and therefore philosphised about it, but certainly he did
not and could not ordain the present order of Hindu
Society. His work ended with the codification of existig caste
rules and the preaching of Caste dharma. The spread and
growth of the Caste system is too gigantic, a task to be
achieved by the power or cunning of an individual or of
a class. Similar in argument is the theory that the Brahmans
created the Caste. After what I have said regarding Manu,
J need hardly say anything more, except to point out that
itis incorrect in thought and malicious in intent. The
Brahmans may have been guilty of many things, and I
dare say they were, but the imposing of the caste system
on the non-Brahnan population was bsyoad their mettle.
They may have helped the process by their glib philosophy,
but they certainly could not have pushed their scheme
beyond their own confines. To fashion society after one’s
own pattern! How glorious! How hard ! One can take
pleasure and eulogize its furtherance, but cannot further
it very far. The vehemence of attack may seem to be
unnecessary ; but I can assure you that it is not uncalled
for. There is a strong belief in the mind of orthodox Hindus

22

that the Hindu Society was somehow moulded into the
frame work of the Caste System and that it is an organiza-
tion consciously created by the Shastras. Not only does
this belief exist, but it being justified on the ground that
it canrot but be good, because it is ordained by the Shastras
and the Shastras cannot be wrong. I have urged so much
on the adverse side of this attitude, not because the religious
sanctity is grounded on scientific basis, nor to help those
reformers who are preaching against it. Preaching did not
make the caste system neither will it unmake it. My aim
is to show the falsity of the attitude that has exalted
religious sanction to the position of a scientific explanation.

Thus the great man’s theory does not help us very far
in solving the spread of Castes in India. Western scholars,
probably not much given to hero worship, have attempted
other explanations. The nuclei, round which have ‘‘formed”’
the various castes in India, are according to them:—
(1) occupation ; (2) survivals of tribal organizations, etc. ;
(3) the rise of new belief; (4) cross-breeding and (5)
migration.

The question may be asked whether these nuclei do not
exist in other societies and whether they are peculair to
India. If they are not peculair to India, but are common to
the world, why is it that that did not ‘‘form’’ caste on other
parts of this planet ? Is it because those parts are holier
than the land of the Vedas, or that the professors are
mistaken ? J am afraid that the latter is the truth.

Inspite of the high theoretic value claimed by the
several authors for their respective theories based on one
or other of the above nuclei, one regrets to say that on

23

close examination they are nothing more than filling
illustrations what Matthew Arnold means by ‘‘the grand
name without the grand thing in it.’ Such are the various
theories of caste advanced by Sir Denzil Ibbetson, Mr.
Nesfield, Mr. Senart and Sir H. Risley. To criticise them in
a lump would be to say that they area disguised form of
the Petitio Principii of formal logic. To illustrate : Mr.
Nesfield says that ‘‘function and function only...... was the
foundation upon which the whole system of Caste in Irdia
was built up.” But he may rightly be reminded that he
does not very much advance our thought by making the
above statemert, which practically amounts to saying that
castes in India are functional or occupational, which is a
very poor discovery! We have yet to know from Mr.
Nesfield why is it that an occcupational group turned into
an occupational caste ? I would cheerfully have undertaken
the task of dwelling on the theories of other ethnologists,
had it not been for the fact that Mr. Nesficid’s is a
typical one.

Without stopping to criticize those theories that
explain the caste system as a natural phenomenon
occuring in obedience to the law of disintegration, as
explained by Herbert Spencer in his formula of evolution,
or as naturai as ‘‘the structural differentiation within an
organism” to employ the phraseology of orthodox apologi-
sts, or as early altempt to test the laws of cugenics-as all
belonging to the same class of fallacy which regards the
caste system as inevitable, or as being consciously imposed
in anticipation of these laws on a helpless and humble
population, I will now lay before you my own view on the

24

subject.

We shall be well advised to recall at the outset that
the Hindu society, in common with other societies, was
composed of classes and the earliest known are the
(1) Brahmans or the priestly class: (2) the Kshatriya, or
the military class: (3) the Vaisya, or the merchant class :
and (4) the Sudra, or the artisan and menial class.
Particular attention has to be paid to the fact that this was
essentialy a class system, in which individuals, when
qualified, could change their class, and therefore classes did
change their personnel. At sometime in the history of the
Hindus, the priestly class socially detatched itself from the
rest of the body of people and through a closed-door
policy became a caste by itself. The other classes being
subject to the law of social division of labour underwent
differentiation, some into large, others into very minute
groups. The Vaishya end Sudra classes were the original
inchoate plasm. which formed the sources of the numerous
castes of today. As the military occupation does not
easily lend itself to very minute sub-division, the Kshatriya
class could have differentiated into soldiers and

administrators.

This sub-division of a society is quite natural. But
the unnatural thing about these sub-divisions is that they
have lost the open door character of the class system and
have become self-enclosed units called castes. The question
is: were they compelled to close their doors and become
endogamous or did they close them of their own accord ?
I submit that there is a double line of answer: SOME
CLOSED THE DOOR : OTHER FOUND IT CLOSED

25

AGAINST THEM. The one is a psychological interpretation
and the other is mechanistic, but they are complementary
and both are necessary to explain the phenomena of caste-
formation in its entirety.

I will first take up the psychological interpretation.
The question we have to answer in this connection is : Why
did these sub-divisions or classes, if you please, industrial
religious, or otherwise, become self-enclosed or endogamcus ?
My answer is because the Brahmans were so. Endogamy
or the closed-door system, was a fashion in the Hindu
Society, and as it had originated from the Brahman caste
it was whole heartedly imitated by all the non Biahman
sub-divisions or classes, who, in their turn, became endoga-
mous castes. It is ‘‘the infection of imitation”? that caught
all these sub-divisions on their onward march of differentia-
tion and has turned them into castes. The propensity to
imitate isa deep-seated one in the human mind and need
not be deemed an inadequate explanation for the formation
of the various castes in India. It3isj so deep seated that
Walter Bagehot argues that we must not think...... of
imitation as voluntary, or even conscious. On the contrary
it has its seat mainly in very obscure parts of the mind,
whose notions, so far from being consciously produced,
are hardly felt to exist, so far from being conceived, before
hand, are not even felt at the time. The main seat of the
imitative part of our nature is our belief, and the causes pre-
disposing us to believe this or disinclining us to believe that
are among the obscurest parts of our nature. But as to the
imitative nature of credulity there can be no doubt.’”** This

———

*Physics and Politics 1915 p. 60

26

propensity to imitate has been made the subject of a scientific
study by Gabriel Tarde, who lays down three laws of
imitation. One of his three laws is that imitation flows from
the higher to the lower or, to quote his own words, ‘‘Given
the opportunity, a nobility will always and everywhere

imitate its leaders, its kings or sovereigns, and the people
likewise, given the opportunity, its nobility.”** Another of
Trade’s laws of imitation is : that the extent or intensity of
imitation varies inversely in proportion to distance, or in his
own words ‘‘the thing that is most imitated is the most
superior one of those that are nearest. In fact, the influence of
the model’s example is efficacious inversely to its DISTANCE
as well as directly to its superiority. Distance is understood
here in its sociological meaning. However distant in space
a Stranger may be, he is close by, from this point of view, if
We have numerous and daily relations with him and if we
have every facility to satisfy our desire to imitate him. This
Jaw of the imitation of the nearest, of the least distant,
explains the gradual and consecutive character of the spread
of an example that has been set by the higher social
ranks.’’*

In order to prove my thesis-which really needs no proof-
that some castes were formed by imitation, the best way, it
Seems to me, is to find out whether or not the vital condition
for the formation of castes by imitation exist in the Hindu
Society. The conditions for imitation, according to this
standard authority are: (1) That the source of imitation
must enjoy prestige in the group and (2) that there must be
‘Numerous and daily relations’ among members of group.

**Laws of Imitation, Tr. by E.C. Parsons, 2nd ed. p. 21
* ibid. p. 234

27

That these conditions were present in India there is little
reason to doubt. The Brahman is a semi-god and very nearly
a demi-god. He sets up a modeand moulds the rest. His
prestige is unquestionable and is the fountain head of bliss
and good. Can such a being, idolised by Scriptures and
venerated by the priest ridden multitude, fall to project his
personality on the suppliant humanity ? Why, if the story
be true, he is believed to be the very end of creation. Such
a creature is worthy of more than mere imitation, but at
least of imitation: and if he lives in an endogamous enclosure,
should not the rest follow his cxample ? Frail humanity ! Be
it embodied in a grave philosopher or a frivolous house-maid,
it succumbs. It cannot be otherwise. Imitation is easy and
invention is difficult.

Yet another way of demonstrating the play of imitation
in the formation of castes is to understand the attitude of
non-Brahman classes towards those customs which supported
the structure of caste in its nascent days until, in the course
of history, it became embedded in the Hindu mind and
hangs there to this day without any support for now it needs
no prop but belief-like a weed on the surface of a pond. In
a way, but only in a way, the status of a caste in the Hindu
Society varies directly with the extent of the observance of
the customs of SATI, enforced widowhood, and girl marriage.
But observance of these customs varies directly with the
DISTANCE (I am using the word in the Tardian sense) that
separates the caste. Those castes that are nearest to the
Brahmans have imitated all the three customs and insist on
the strict observance thereof. Those that are less near have
imitated enforced widowhood and girl marriage ; others, a
little further off, have only girl marriage and those furthest

, 28

off have imitated only the belief in the caste principle. This
imperfects imitation. I dare say, is due partly to what Tarde
calls ‘distance’ and partly to the—barbarous character of
these customs. This phenomenon is a complete illustration
of Tarde’s law and leaves no doubt that the whole
process of caste formation in India is a process of
imitation of the higher by the lower. At this juncture
I will turn back to support a former conclusion of
mine, Which might have appeared to you as too sudden or
unsupported. I said that the Brahman class first raised the
structure of caste by the help of those three customs in
question. My reason for that conciusion was that their
existence in other classes was derivative. After what I have
said regarding the role of imitation in the spread of these
customs among the non-Brahman castes, as Means or as
ideals, though the imitaters have not been aware of it, they
‘exist among th2m as derivatives ; and, if they are derived,
there must have been prevalent one original caste that was
high enough to have served as a pattern for the rest. But in
a theocratic society, who could be the pattern but the servant
of God ?

This completes the story of those that were weak enough
to close their doors. Let us now see how others were closed
in as a result of being closed out. This I call the mechanistic
process of the formation of caste. It is mechanistic because
itis inevitable. That this line of approach, as well as the
psychological one, to the explanation of the subject has
escaped my predecessors is entirely due to the fact that they
have conceived Caste as a unit by itself and not as one within
a System of Caste. The result of this oversight or lack of

29

sight has been very detrimental to the proper understanding
of the subject matter and therefore its correct explanation.
I will proceed to offer my own explanation by making one
remark which I will urge you to bear constantly in mind.
It is this: that caste in the singular number is an un-
reality. Castes exist only in the plural number.
There is no such thing as A caste: there are always castes.
To illustrate my meaning: while making themselves into a
caste, the Brahmans, by virtue of this, created Non-Brahman
caste ; or, to express it in my own way, while closing them-
selves in they closed others out. IT will clear my point by
taking another illustration. Take India asa whole with its
various communities designated by the various creeds to
which they owe allegiance, to wit, the Hindus, Muham-
madans, Jews, Christians and Parsis. Now, barring the
Hindus, the rest within themselves are non-caste communi-
ties. But with respect toeach other they are castes. Again,
if the first four enclose themselves, the Parsis are directly
closed out. but are indirectly closed in. Symbolically if
group A wants to be endogamous, group B has to be so by
sheer force of circumstances.

Now apply the same logic to the Hindu Society and you
have another explanation of the ‘fissiparious’ character of
caste, as a consequence of the virtue of self-duplication that
is inherent init. Any innovation that seriously antagonises
the ethical, religious and social code of the Caste is not
likely to be tolerated by the Caste, and the recalcitrant
members of a Caste are in danger of being thrown out of the
Caste, and left to their own fate without having the alter-
native of being admitted into or absorbed by other castes.
Caste rules are inexorable and they do not wait to make

30

nice distinctions between kinds of offence. Innovation may
be of any kind, but all kinds will suffer the same penalty.
A novel way of thinking will create a new Caste for the old
ones will not tolerate it. The noxious thinker respectfully
called Guru (Prophet) suffers the same fate as the sinners in
illegitimate love. The former creates a caste of the nature
of a religious set and the latter a type of mixed caste. Castes
have no mercy for a sinner who has the courage to violate
the code. The penalty is excommunication and the result is
a new caste. It is not peculiar Hindu psychology that
induces the excommunicated to form themselves into a caste ;
far from it. On the contrary, very often they have been
quite willing to be humble members of some caste (higher by
preference) if they could be admitted within its fold. But
castes are enclosed units and it is their conspiracy with
clear conscience that compels the excommunicated to make
themselves into a caste. The logic of this obdurate cir-
cumstance is merciless, and it is in obedience to its force
that some unfortunate groups find themselves enclosed, be-
cause others in enclosing, themselves have closed them out,
with the result that new groups (formed on any basis
obnoxious to the caste rules) by a mechanical law are
constantly being converted into castes to a bewildering
multiplicity. This is told the second tale in the process of
Caste formation in India.

Now to summarise the main points of my thesis. In my
opinion there have been several mistakes committed by the
Students of Caste, which have misled them in their investi-
gations. European Students of Caste have unduly emphasis-
ed the role of colour in the caste system. Themselves impreg-

nated by colour prejudices, they very readily imagined it to

31

be the chief factor in the Caste problem. But nothing can be
farther from the truth, and Dr. Ketkar is correct when he
insists that ‘‘all the princes whether they belonged to the so-
called Aryan race, or the so-called Dravidian race, were
Aryas.’” Whether aftribe or a family was racially Aryan or
Dravidian was dquestion which never troubled the people of
India, until foreign scholars came in and began to draw the
line. The colour of the skin had long ceased to be a matter
of importance. Again, they have mistaken mere descriptions
for explanation and fought over them as though they were
theories of origin. There are occupational, religious, etc.,
castes it is true, but it is no means an explanation of the
origin of Caste. We have yet to find out why occupational
groups are castes ; but this question has never even been
raised. Lastly they have taken Caste very lightly as though
a breath had made it, On the contrary, Caste, as I have
explained it, is almost impossible to be sustained: for the
difficulties that it involves are tremendous. It is true that
Caste relies on belief, but before belief comes to be the foun-
dation of an institution, the institution itself needs to be
perpetuated and fortified. My study of the Caste problem
involves four main points : (1) That inspite of the composite
make up of the Hindu population there is a deep cultural
unity (2) That caste is a parcelling into bits of a larger cul-
tural unit (3) That there was one caste to start with (4) That
classes have become Castes through imitation and excom-
munication.

Peculiar interest attaches to the problem of Caste in India
today ; as persistent attempts are being made to do away
with this unnatural institution. Such attempts at reform,

32

however, have aroused a great deal of controversy regarding
its origin, as to whether it is due to the conscious command
of a Supreme Authority, or is an unconscious growth in the
life of a human society under peculiar circumstances. Those
who hold the latter view will, I hope, find some food for
thought in the standpoint adopted in this Paper. Apart from
its practical importance the subject of Caste is an all absorb-
ing problem and interest aroused in me regarding its
theoretic foundations has moved me to put before you some
of the conclusions, which seem to me well founded, and the
grounds upon which they may be supported. I am not, how-
ever, SO presumptuous as to think them in any way final, or
anything more than a contribution to a discussion of the
subject. It seems to me that the car has been shunted on
wrong lines, and the primary object of the paper is to indi-
cate what I regard to be the right path cf investigation, with
a view to arrive at a serviceable truth. We must, however,
guard against approaching the subject with a bias. Sentiment
must be outlawed from the domain of science and things
shovld be judged from an objective standpoint. For myself
I shall find as much pleasure in a positive destruction of my
own idealogy, as in a rational disagreement on a topic,
which, notwithstanding many learned disquisitions is likely
to remain controversial forever. To conclude, while I am
ambitious to advance a Theory of Casie, if it can be shown
to be untenable I shall be equally willing to give it up.

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